Cityfibre Connect First Businesses to 1Gbps FTTP in Milton Keynes

Fibre optic builder Cityfibre and local ISP partner DBfB have confirmed that the first businesses are now gone live on their Gigabit-capable and 162km long Fibre-to-the-Premise (FTTP) based broadband network in the large Buckinghamshire (England) town of Milton Keynes.

Cityfibre first acquired the network from KCOM last year (here) and in July 2016 they confirmed their intention to turn it into a commercial platform, which could offer its services to around 2,700 local businesses, as well as various public sector sites (schools and colleges etc.).

The operator claims that its network “spans the entire city“, reaching from Old Wolverton, to Blakelands, to Redmoor and out to Caldecotte and Tilbrook. However this should be clarified by saying that the fibre optic cable itself does not pass outside every single premise and instead follows a singular route around the city, which puts it nearby many businesses.

Rob Hamlin, Cityfibre’s Commercial Director, said:

“We’re delighted to announce the network is now live, and the first businesses are benefitting from ultra-fast connectivity. It’s no surprise that Milton Keynes, being such a forward-thinking city, is fully embracing this new opportunity. Businesses are now realising the benefits gigabit speeds provide and are launching into a new phase of growth.”

Cllr Rob Middleton, Milton Keynes City Council, added:

“Switching on the first Gigabit speeds for businesses is great news for Milton Keynes and for our business community. We operate in a digital age and as a Gigabit City we could not be better positioned to take full advantage. Not only will businesses based in Milton Keynes be given a digital ‘head start’ but we are confident that this will provide yet another reason why businesses would want to establish themselves in Milton Keynes.”

The press release includes an interesting, if unattributed, quote from a customer who suggests that previously they would have had to pay around £750 +vat per month for a symmetrical 30Mbps leased line. Apparently the new service from dbfb and Cityfibre is “30 times faster” (900Mbps) and has saved them £250 per month (total price of £500 per month). Mind you we aren’t given much in the way of a comparison in terms of SLA, repair times etc.

It’s worth pointing out that Milton Keynes has no coverage from Virgin Media’s ultrafast cable (EuroDOCSIS 3) network, although it is largely blanketed by Openreach’s (BT) FTTC based “superfast broadband” network and OR also has a fairly large amount of FTTP in the town. But local businesses will surely welcome a bit of extra competition.